Motive-fluid-supply regulator for internal-combustion engines



Aug. 1 1925. 1,550,649

J. P. REMINGTON MOTIVE FhUI'D SUPPLY REGULATOR FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES I Filed June 22,- 19 20 WITNESSES: IIIVENTOR [4 r J'oseph Pcrqyfiemz'ny/ag Y BY W I I p Q M 47 7 AT oRnIY Phila United States of America, have invented certain new and useful Improvements i in delicacy in Regulators for Inmethods th whereof the judgement andskill As is well known,

times and under all conditions, without danger of oversupply at any time. plied to the engines of motor cars, my 1n-= by the returning pi driver of the car; improves the behavior of during which t the car under variation of load, as in hillnits-d and burned, an

eliminates gas knocks and bust-ion are allowed toexpand against the so as t o force it forward-and drive and, finally, h the returning piston expels ucts of combustion from the to prep combustible charge on the f the next cycle. I

ifords power for driving Patented Aug. 18, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

JOSEPH rnnov REMINGTON,

REMINGTON MANUFACTURING 0 CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosnrH PERCY REM- to enab 'INGTON, a citizen of the United States, and mum diminution of speed.

a resident of Philadelphia, in the county of delphia and State of Pennsylvania, operating con gines,al

Motive-Fluid-Supply t6rnal-Combust-ion Engines, following is 'a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing. 1

My invention relates to regulation of-the engine involves, I motive fluid supply of internal combustion ing which a ch engines,-especially automobile ,engines,- of air and gaso my aim being to afford the engine an adevice' or carbureter is or 'PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVA oMBANY, or PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, A

NIA, ASSIGNOR TO MOTIVE-FIJUID SUfPLY REGULATOR FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Application filed June 22,,1920. Se

rial No. 390,986.

,the pro cess of increasing the enginepower la the car totake a hill with mini- This is primarily a consequence of peculiarities in the ditions of automobile enthe lack of precision and herent in arbitrary and empirical at leave everything to personal is also a factor.

the cycle of ope-rations in each cylinder of the ordinary automobile first, a suction stroke, durarge of combustible mixture line fromthe fuel .feed dedrawn into the cylquate supply of combustible mixture at all inder by the advancing piston; then a. comvention minimizes the ill effects of improp- "heated more or less, ac

er manipulation of the throttle by the of compression); th

- will broader aspects the invention is not confrom the momentum of the vehicle due to' fined to the particular application and embodiment described, but can be otherwise working strokes carried out and employed.

:Ihe customary provision for control and occurs, of course, regulation of the speed and running 0f an automobile internal combustion engine required'to effect it depend, of course, on

pression stroke, during which this combus- As aptibl-e charge is compressed in the cylinder ston (being thereby cording to the degree en a working stroke, he compressed charge is igd the products of com a scavenging are it for the recep- Only the three strokes use up be understood, however, that in its a certainnmourit of power, which is derived previous working greater part of I The degree ofcom strokes. and fromthe f other cylinders. The this power consumption on the compression stroke. pression and the power (aside from advancement and retardation the amount of the charge drawn into the en of the sprak, and from gear shift) is a gine cylinder. throttle controlling the flow of combustible the pressure 0 mixture to the engine and operated directly actually drawn in by the driver-ofthe car, either by hand or tion created by the However necessary and valuable other words, on th as a means of general control over the supor partial vacuum ly of combustible mixture with'reference fluid to flow in as eed of the car, At fairly high running speeds of the car, ty may be some 10 inches e; while with the throttle low speeds, it may drop 1 ess. As would naturally.

by foot.

wide open at very in turn depends on f the combustible mixture as to the cylinder by the sucmoving piston; or, in e intensity of the suction due to the failure of the fast as the piston moves.

load conditions on carburization.

be expected, therefore, the greatest charges of combustible mixture are drawn into the engine cylinders at low speeds, so that the power required to effect compression is greatest'when the momentum available for the purpose is least. This is most serious, of course, when the load on the engine is augmented by the vehicles encountering a heavy grade, so that after each explosion the momentum must not only effect compression, but also keep the vehicle going on the upgrade until the next explosion oc curs. Sudden wide opening of the throttle of a heavily loaded engine, tends, therefore, to slow it down excessively or tostall it, by reason of the extra burden of compression thereby superimposed. It also tends to produce severe laboring and racking of the engine. Under these same conditions of wide open throttle and low speed occurs, also, the phenomenon of so-called gas knocks.

Just what are the relations of such phe-- nomena as gas knocks, racking and laboring, and high compression to one another and to the slowing down of the engine with Wide open throttle and heavyload need not be here discussed at any length. There is reason to believe, however, that the burden of,

high compression imposed on the engine by sudden wide opening ofthe throttle under heavy load is not, directly and as a mere load, the entire cause of all these various phenomena, but that they are partly due to some effect of such concurrent throttleand x This is confirmed by the observed coincidence of gas knocks, with an overlean combustible mixture, as well as by fact that the operation of commercial forms of carbureter de- Ihave found that all these diiiiculties'can.

be overcome, and the running of the envgine greatly improved, by regulating the supply of combustible mixture to the englne according to'the various principles and methods hereinafter explainedwith reference to the best-and most highly organized modes, of applying and" carrying them out at present known to me. For the best results, the supply of combustible mixture should be increased progressively paw: passu or proportionately with the concurrent in- 1 crease of engine speed and acceleration of the car, and v ce versa. 1

refer to efiect regulation upon this principle or method automatically (leaving to the driver and his arbitrarily operated throttle only a general control of the speed to be automatically established and maintained), since the driver who wants to increase or maintain his speed on a level or on a grade tends very'strongly to throw the throttle wide open the moment the need arises, and it is very ditficult or impossible for him to manipulate the throttle with such delicacy. of touch and nicety of judgment as to increase the avail able supply of motive fluid in proper proportion to the concurrently increasing .car speed. Such automatic regulation of the supply. of combustible mixture according to my met-hod'can be effected by'opposing to the passage of the -fluid mixture from the fuel feed device to the engine a resistance effective, at low speeds, to prevent the inflow of mixture from raising the pressure in the engine cylinders and intake to as high a level as at'the air inlet ofthe fuel feed device,or, in other words, which will maintain or insure a substantial partial vacuum in the engine intake under all running conditions. This need not interfere with the freest supply of combustible mixture to the engine at the higher speeds, or restrict the ultimate maximum speed and power of the engine, or prevent arbitrary control of the possible supply and speed at all times by means of the ordinary throttle. Nor, indeed, are the benefits of my invention confine-d tolthe very low speeds; on the contrary, it afiords notablegains in speedand in load-carrying capacity at speeds materially higher than the low speeds entailed by the, heaviest loads, though greatest at these latter speeds.

In the drawings, Fig. I is a conventional i' Fig. II is a sectional view through the intake passage or conduit leading from the'fuel feed device or carbureter to the engine intake manifold", illustrating the ap plication 01K a regulating device thereto in l accordance with my invention.

' Fig. III is'a plan view of the regulating device, the intake conduit appearing in sec tion at the. line III-III in Fig. II.

, Fig. IV is a sectional view through an en- 3 gine intake illustrating amodified form and arrangement of regulating device.

Fig. V is a view of the regulating device proper and its mounting taken at right angles to Fig. IV, looking toward the left in 1 that figure. 9

In Fig. I is represented an automobile engine 1 whosefintake manifold 2con1municates with the fuel feed device or carbureter 3 throughan intake passage or conduit com 1 prehensively indicated by the reference numeral 4, the' air inlet of the carbureter 3, being indicated at 5. Liquid fuel such as gasoline is supplied to the carbureter 3 from a supply tank 6 (here shown at a lower 1 level than the carbureter) by means of a vacuum or suction system of any well-known or preferred type,'as, in particular, that disclosed in my application Serial No.

380,121, filed May 10,1920. The fuel'supply 1 system is here conventionally represented as fluid stream to open the valve completely comprising a float chamber7 having a sue at high velocities, corresponding to high. tion connection 8 to the engine intake 4, suction intensities above the valve; hence a delivery connection -9 to thecarbureter 3 the valve does not sensibly affect the. freest. and a supply connectionlO'to the gasoline flow of combustible mixture to the engine tank 6. In the engine intake 4 is a'device 11" at high speeds of the latter. J3 forcontrolling and regulating the effective The regulator 11 will preferably be so communication between the-engine 1 and designed and-so set (by'appropriate propor the carbureter 3 in accordance with my tioning and adjustment. of its counterweight invention; also there is in the intake passage 22) as to remain in closed position, as shown,

the usual throttle 12 arbitrarily controlled at and below the minimum suction intensity by the automobile driver, and here shown' for which the. fuel supply system and the as in a portion of'the conduit 4 formed by carbureter will operate satisfactorily, and a' neck 13 on the carbureter 3. v to open fully (or substantiallyso)only by Referring, now, to FigsjII and III, it the time. the engine attains a high speed. will be seen that the regulator 11 acts auto- To prevent knocking and meet all other rematically to diminish the effective communiquirements satisfactorily, it is usually best cation betweenthe engine 1 and the carbuthat With-the hand throttle 12 wide open reter 3 with diminution of the velocity and the valve 20 should just be starting to open I flow of combustible mixture from the carwhen the suction has attained a substantial member 20 slightly unbalanced in reference 20 or the throttle 12, such as about-2 inches ber 20 tends to open more and more, andpressure between the two sides of the valve.

bureter 3.to the engine cylinders, and vicebut fairly small value, exceeding the normal, Versa. As here constructed, this regulator minimum value at the lowest speeds with 11 comprises abutterfly disc valve or closure the intake unobstructed byeither the valve to the influence of thefluid flowing past it, of mercury, and that at the ultimate max1- so that as this flow increases with increasing mum possible speed ofthe car on a level. engine speed or acceleration the valve memthere should be no substantial difference in vice-versa. This unbalanced tendency may hen in its closed position shbwn, the be produced by mounting the valve axis or valve disk 20. should preferably afford .no

' shaft 21 oif centre and arranging it so that" openingadjacentits larger upper lobe, and

in its most nearly closed position it extends an opening adjacent its smaller lower lobe diagonally or 'slantingly across the intake hardly less than equivalent to that afforded 'passage 4, as shown in Figs. II and III by the hand throttle when in any. ordinary or by merely making one lobe of greater starting 7, position,-the extreme ordinary area than the other, as in Figs. IV and V, starting position of the hand throttle being, hereinafter described; or by any other well of course, about the one-fourth open one.- known or preferred means. 1 The object ,of thiscalibration of the valve The opening'ftendency'of'thevalue disc: 20 20 is, of course, to avoid interference with under the influence of increasing speed, of starting of the car in the usual manner; the 'fuel stream is yieldingly resisted by it will not be-found inconsistent with the suitable loading of the valve, as'by means ability of the valve 20 to insure a minimum of a counterweight comprising a pair of definite suction aboveitof about 2 inches knurled lock-nuts 22,22 screw-threaded and of mercury under all running, conditions adjustable lengthwise on a lever arm 23 of the c'ar,'as above set forth. fastened to the valve disc shaft 21. Com- Besides preventing overcharging of the plete closure" of the valve disc 20 is prevented engine cylinders and maintaining a partial by engagement of a stop lug or shoulder 24 vacuum in the engine-intake under all runon the lever member 23 with a stop pin 25 ning conditions, the regulator 11 tends, when. projecting from a boss '26 on the conduit partially closed, to deflect cthe stream of section 4 containing the valve disc 20; and fluid through the intake and cause eddies derangement of the device by accidental therein that promote thorough intermingling .throwingof the counterweight 22 over its of the air and gasoline, so as to produce a another stop lug 27 on said lever member that ,is in itself favorable'to good running dead centre is prevented by engagement of homogenous, uniform, combustible mixture 120 23'with said stop pin 25. Fluttering of the and to increased power. valve disc 20 with the succession ofv indi- It will be seen, therefore, that the reguvidual suction impulses is prevented by its lator 11 automatically varies the effective inertia. The angularrelation of the countercommunication -between the carbureter 3 weight, 22 to'the valve disc 20 is such that and the en ine 1 directly according to the its lever arm and effective valve diminish. flow of confimstible mixture. This prevents gradually as the valve opens, until, in the" an inexperienced driver from stalling his full openposition of the valve they are very engine or unduly slowing his car by openslight. This progressive diminution of resisting the throttle 12 too wide on starting ance to a relatively small value enables the up a hil1, so as to overcharge the cylinders 130 'by admission of fuel at atmospheric pressure. Though the valve 20 may be placed at either side of the hand throttle 12, as found most convenient, its location between the engine 1 and the carbureter 3 is quite important; for its action is thus that of a throttle regulating the quantity of combustible mixture reaching the engine, and not that of a.choke regulating the richness or leaness of the mixture,as would be the case if it were located in the air inlet 5 of,

the carbureter. -By tapping the intake suction connection 8 ofa vacuum type fuel supply system into the intake passage 4 at a point between the valve 20 and the engine, as shown, advantage can be taken of the fact that under all conditions a greater vacuum exists above. than below the regulatorll, so as to utilize the intake vacuum impulses to the best advantage. This is of greatest benefit, of course, in the case of a vacuum system not employing a :reserve tank but capable of operating on low suction intensities,such as that described in my aforesaid application. In reference to this coaction of the regulator 11 with a vacuum intensity being satisfied in part by the automatic throttle can open.

type fuel feed system, the location of the valve 20 between the carbureter 3 and the engine rather than in the air inlet to the carbureter is of special importance, since the resistance to air inflow to the intake offered by the throttling action of the loaded valve 20 results in the slight vacuua represented by engine suction impulses of low influx of liquid fuel from the tank 6 into the float chamber 7 of the supply system instead of being almost entirely satisfied by direct, free inflow of the body of air in the carbureter 3,with consequent failure of the fuel supply system to function satisfactorily.

lVhen an engine equipped with the regulator 11 is started, the valve 20 opensgradually and progressively in direct proportion to the velocity of the fluid stream, which latter is dependent on the engine speed and, therefore, on its demonstrated capacity to carry the load. Any increase in the load slows the engine down, so that the lowered velocity of the fuel stream allows the automatic-throttle valve 20 to close partially, thus obviating the ill effects of av wide open throttle pointed out above. Any. decrease in load allows the engine to speed up before Thus the running condition or speed variation of the engine determines the concurrent automatic throttle opening in direct'proportion and correspondence thereto, rather than the throttle opening predetermining the running condition of the engine,much less the mere arbitrary use of the hand throttle 12 by the driver. The latter may still, however, arbitrarily close the throttle 12 or open it, so as either to limit the fluid stream and its velocity to a value at which the auto matic throttle 11 will remain closed, or to increase it to a point at which the automatic throttle 11 will begin to open as the engine picks up under the existing load. The driver, therefore, controls the coming into action of the automatic throttle and the ultimate speed of the car, but has nothing to do with regulating its acceleration.

In Figs. IV lit-11d V is shown a modified form of regulator specially suitable for insertion in horizontal intake passages of automobile engines already built' or in use. This device comprises a plate 30 adapted to be inserted gasket-wise (with the usual accessory gaskets to secure fluid-tightness) between flanges 31 and 32 of sections of the intake passage,which sections may be the horizontal carbureter neck 13 and the adjacent horizontal portion of the conduit section 35 in Fig. I. The circular opening in the plate 30 is. surrounded by a flange 36 adapted to enter the internal bore. of the conduit section 35, this flange affords a seat for a metal valve disc 37 pivoted loosely on a shaft or mandrel 38 whose reduced ends enter holes in said flange. As shown the lower lobe of the disc 37 is the larger, so as to close off the lower half of the passage while the upper half afl'ords an opening above it, as in the case of Figs. II and III. As shown, the disc 37 is transversely slotted to afford a plurality of straps 39 which are oppositely bent to embrace the shaft 38, and carries a semi-circular sheet metal counterweight 40 flanged and riveted thereto at 41. Under the influence of gravity, therefore, the valve disc 37 naturally tends to occupy the nearly vertically closed position shown, as determined by a stop projection 42 bent upward from the flange 36. Overturning of the disc 37 in opening is prevented by engagement thereof, when abouthorizontal, with inward bent stop projections 43 on the flange 36. For an ordinary car, the metal employed may be sheet steel about thick. The impact or pressure of fluid from the carbureter on the left-hand side of the disc 37 naturally tends to open it, owing to the greater area of the lower lobe, while the weight 40 tends to close it. I-Ience it opposes a yielding throttling reslstance to the passage of the combustible mixture corresponding to that of the valve 20 in Figs. II and III, this resistance approaching zero as the disc opens fully and the diminishing lower area of the;

therein yieldingly resistant and responsive to the flow of fluid therethrough for automatically augmenting and diminishing the supply of combustible mixture para passu with concurrent variation in engine suction, so, as to regulate the acceleration andpower in reference to the load; said throttle comprising a butterfly reduced to accommodate normal starting conditions but unbalanced in reference to the influence of the fluid flowing past it, and means for producing a turning moment tending to close the valve which diminishes in influence as the valve approaches full open position.

2. The combination with the intake of an internal combustion engine, of a'throttle therein yieldingly resistant and responsive to the flow of fluid therethrough for automatically augmenting and diminishing the supply of combustible mixture pari passu with concurrent variation in engine suction so as to regulate the acceleration and power in reference to the load; said throttle comprising a. butterfly valve having the lower lobe arcuately reduced to accommo- 'date normal starting conditions but unbalanced in reference to the influence of the fluid flowing past it, means for producing a turning moment tending to close the valve comprising a. lever arm' with adjustable counterweight extending at a slight angle to the plane of the valve, and means functional to limit said turning moment.

3. The combination withthe intake of an internal combustion engine of a throttle valve therein, yieldingly resistant and responsive to the flow of fluid therethrough, for automatically augmenting and diminishing the supply of combustible mixture with concurrent variation in engine suction so as to regulate the acceleration and power with reference to the load, said throttle valve affording an opening accommodating normal starting conditions, and gravity operable means associated with said throttle for urging the throttle to closed position but adapted to progressively yield its impulse to subsidence in proportion to the degree of movement of the throttle as the latter moves to openposition.

valve having one lobe.

balanced gravity-fall butterfly signed my 4. The combination with. the intake of an internal combustion engine, of a butterfly throttle therein having a reduced lobe at one side of its axis, yieldingly resistant and responsive to the flow of fluid therethrough for automatically augmenting and diminishing the supply of combustible mixture with concurrent variation in engine suction, so as to regulate the acceleration and power with reference to the load, an arm movable with the throttle having movement limiting. stops and extending horizontally when the latter is closed, and a weight adjustably carried by the arm, whereby said arm is carried toward a vertical position as the throttle moves to open position so as to result in a corresponding decrease in gravitational effect upon the'throttle tending to close the latter. 7

5. An acceleration and power regulator for an automobile internal combustion engine comprising, in combination with the intake of such engine, unbalanced gravityfall butterfly-valve having a reduced lobe at one side of its axis responsive to the velocity of flow therethrough for automatically diminishing or increasing the effective communicaton between the engine and its fuel feed device paw: passu with variation of the engine speed. I

6; The combination with the intake of an internal combustion 'engine, of an untherein having a reduced lobe at one side of its axis yieldingly resistant and responsive to the flow of fluid therethrou h for throttle automatically augmenting and dimiilishing the supply of combustible mixture p'am' passu with concurrent acceleration or slowing up of the engine, so as to regulate the acceleration and power of the latter in reference to the load; and an arbitrarily operated throttle also controlling the flow of combustible mixture to the engine, so as to control the action of the aforesaid automatically acting unbalanced throttle and the possible speed of the engine.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto name at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this 17th day of June 1920. A

. JOSEPH PERQY REMINGTON. 

